Orlando Bloom and Elijah Wood Just Joined The Gentlemen Season 3, and One Big Star Is Not Coming Back

A Lord of the Rings Reunion More Than Twenty Years in the Making

Orlando Bloom and Elijah Wood are officially joining The Gentlemen for Season 3, and the announcement landed on Friday with the kind of star power that streaming executives dream about. Netflix confirmed that production on the third season of Guy Ritchie’s crime saga is now underway, with cameras rolling in the United Kingdom and Morocco.

The two actors need no introduction to fantasy fans. Bloom played the elf Legolas and Wood played the hobbit Frodo Baggins across Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings trilogy, and they both later appeared in the Hobbit films. But here is the detail that makes this casting so delicious: they never actually shared the screen in those Hobbit movies. The Gentlemen will mark the first time the two have worked together since The Return of the King closed out the trilogy back in 2003. More than two decades later, the fellowship is reuniting inside one of Netflix’s most stylish crime dramas.

It is a genuinely inspired bit of casting. Ritchie built his career on assembling ensembles of charming rogues, and dropping an elf and a hobbit into a world of aristocratic drug lords feels like exactly the kind of left field move that made his 2019 film and this series such hits in the first place.

But Bloom and Wood are not coming alone. The full roster of new faces is stacked: Trainspotting legend Robert Carlyle, Lock Stock veteran Dexter Fletcher, Blue Beetle star Bruna Marquezine, You stars Ed Speleers and Saffron Burrows, and rapper turned actor Bugzy Malone are all joining the season as well. Carlyle in particular is being positioned as the headline addition among the newcomers, and viewers will also see him in the upcoming seventh season of Line of Duty.

All of them will slot in alongside the returning core: Theo James as Eddie Horniman, Kaya Scodelario as Susie Glass, plus Ray Winstone, Joely Richardson, Vinnie Jones, Jasmine Blackborow, Harry Goodwins and Benjamin Clementine. Maya Jama is also back as Aisha, the glamorous fixer she introduced in Season 2. These are the kinds of red carpet worthy ensembles that make premiere nights electric, and fans still talk about glamorous arrivals like Janet Jackson’s show stopping sheer lace gown at this year’s gala circuit.

Daniel Ings Is Out, and Meghan Markle Never Had a Shot

Here is the part of the announcement that stings a little. Daniel Ings, who played the chaotic older brother Lord Frederick “Freddy” Horniman across the first two seasons, is leaving the show. Netflix confirmed he will not return, and Entertainment Weekly has since verified that neither Ings nor Meghan Markle will appear at all throughout Season 3.

Freddy was the wildcard of the series, the screw up older sibling whose disasters kept Eddie’s criminal empire one wrong move from collapse. Fans had come to love him precisely because he was impossible to manage. His exit leaves a very specific hole in the ensemble, and it will be fascinating to see how the writers explain his absence when Eddie heads off on his most ambitious scheme yet.

As for Markle, Friday’s cast list officially ends months of speculation. The Duchess of Sussex, who quit acting in 2017 when she got engaged to Prince Harry, was rumored over the summer to be eyeing a role in the series. It was never going to happen. Page Six reported that she never actually received an offer and had only a single conversation with the show’s casting director. One insider put it bluntly: “She took it as an offer. And it wasn’t.” Another source said the initial interest had actually come from Ritchie himself.

The story took a spicier turn when a friend of Markle’s claimed that Netflix had “used” the casting rumors to promote the show’s second season, which premiered on September 3. “It’s the oldest marketing trick in the book: get a big name to read a script, then leak that you’re ‘in conversation’ with them when, in reality, nothing is particularly far along,” the friend told the Telegraph. The friend added that the episode “left a bit of a sour taste in the Sussex camp’s mouth” and that Netflix got exactly what it wanted: huge viewing figures and a flood of publicity. Whatever the truth, the cast list settles it. The door to Markle’s acting comeback through The Gentlemen is officially closed.

What Season 3 Is Actually About

So what are Eddie and Susie up to this time? According to Netflix, the new season sees the pair take on their most audacious project yet: building a casino in the Middle East. The official tease asks whether the Duke’s unchecked ambition has finally gone too far, which suggests the season will push Eddie into territory even his criminal mentors warned him about.

Ritchie himself sounds fired up about it. “The ambition of The Gentlemen has accelerated, the world has expanded and the consequences carry weight. A third season felt inevitable, and I’m looking forward to pushing the boundaries of it further,” he said. He is writing the season with Matthew Read and directing alongside Eran Creevy.

One note of patience for fans: there was a two year gap between the first two seasons, so do not expect this one quickly. Season 2 only premiered on September 3, and eight hour long episodes filmed across two countries take time. A 2028 arrival looks like the realistic bet.

Still, the ingredients are there. Ritchie’s crime worlds run on one simple fuel: charismatic people making terrible decisions in beautiful locations. Add a Legolas, a Frodo, a Trainspotting icon and a casino in the desert, and Season 3 is shaping up to be the show’s most ambitious swing yet. In a year when surprise casting and headline moves have set the internet buzzing, this might be the reunion nobody asked for and everybody needed. Much like Ethan Hawke’s unexpectedly sweet confession on daytime television, sometimes the most charming Hollywood stories are the ones that come out of nowhere.

The Bottom Line

The Gentlemen Season 3 is officially in production with Orlando Bloom, Elijah Wood and six more major names joining Theo James and Kaya Scodelario. Daniel Ings exits, Meghan Markle’s rumored role is dead, and the casino in the Middle East storyline promises the show’s boldest season yet. The only bad news is the wait. 2028 cannot come soon enough.